THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY

PLENARY: The Plenary will meet today at 11:00 am to receive
the Chair's revised negotiating text, a compilation of five
Conference Room Papers (A/CONF.164/CRP.1, 2, 3, 4, and 5),
considered during the informal-informal sessions held on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday morning of this week. The Chair is expected
to consider the work of the Credentials Committee (A/CONF.164/18)
prior to adjourning the Conference. Look for the draft listing of
delegates to the Conference, which is scheduled to be released
today.

NGO ACTIVITIES: Look for a letter to be published in
<W2I>ECO<D> from the NGOs to the Conference Chair on the topic of
openness and transparency at this and future work of the
Conference. In a debriefing session held yesterday, the NGOs
drafted a collective letter, addressed to Satya Nandan, expressing
their discontent at the way the negotiations have been conducted
this week. Over the last three days, the NGOs have been excluded
from observing the negotiating sessions. Many feel that this sort
of secrecy and lack of transparency had been abandoned by
governments following the positive experience of the UNCED process.
Some have expressed the feeling that democracy and participation
cannot be sacrificed at the expense of political expediency, since
this is too high a price to pay for a speedy resolution to
negotiations. This was the first meeting in two years related to
environment and development matters, and the first UNCED-mandated
negotiation, where NGOs have been barred from observing the
sessions. Many NGOs who have traveled great distances and represent
constituencies directly affected by the decisions taken by the
delegates feel that their contribution has been not only ignored
but discounted as irrelevant to what has become a legalistic
struggle. They have all endorsed this open letter to the Chair
asking for a more transparent process, both during the coming
intersessional period and at the last session of the Conference in
August 1994. Look for strong words in the corridors from NGOs,
particularly to those delegations who normally are supportive of
NGO participation but who have failed to advocate for their
presence in the negotiating room this week.